Rotary engine.



110.769,183, EATENTED SEP`T.6,1904,

J. M. POWELL. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 1903..

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

4.. 0 9 1 nu m. DL E S D E ml. N E T A P L L E W 0 D.. M J.. QW 8 .I v 9 6 7 nw. N

ROTARY ENG-INE. APPLIOATION ILED Nov. 2a, 190s.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

vwamtoz Joseph M. Powell l No, 769,183. i PATENTED sEPT.s,19o4.

J. M. POWELL. ROTARY ENGINE.

APILIOATION FILED NDV. 23. 1903.

No. onEL. 2 ssnEE'Es-sHEET a.

f3 vv 7 @Wine/ww Joseph M. Powell A WW Patented September 6, 1904.

PATIENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH M. POWELL, OP onnsrns, INDIANA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATIO forming part of Letters P4atent"-No .*'769,183, dated September 6, 1904.

i Application tiled November 23, v1903. Serial No. 182,230. (No model.)

To all 1171/0771, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, J osnPII M. POWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orestes, in the county of Madison and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful- Improvements in Rotary Engines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure lis a side elevation of a rotary engine embodying my said invention; 'Fig 2, a central vertical sectional view thereof as seen when looking in the direction indicated by the arrows from the dotted lines 2 2 in Figs. `3 and 4; Fig. 3, an end elevation; Fig. 4, a central vertical sectional view as seen from the dotted lines 4 4 in Figs. l and 2; Fig. 5, a detail horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through the valve and its governing mechanism as seen when looking downward from the dotted line 5 5 in Figs. l andA 2; Fig. 6, a view similarto a` portion of Fig.

2, but on an enlarged scale; Fig. 7, a viewsimie lar to a portion of Fig. 4, but on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 8, a detail sectional view, on a still further enlargedscale, at the point indicated by the dotted line 8 8 in Fig. 6.

The cylinder of my improved engine is lcomposed of the head 2l, which also preferably embodies a part of the rim, as is best shown in Fig. 2, the head 22, and anupperrim por-v tion 23, whichportions are suitably secured together, as by cap-bolts 24. Within suitable grooves in the internal faces ofv the heads 2l and 22 are the packing-strips 25 and 26, and these are held against the rotary piston either by means of suitable springs, as 27 and 28, or

by the force of a small quantity of steam which (by means of suitable channels formed in the structure, as shown in Fig.,2) isV admitted to the space behind said packing-strips.

A packing-strip '29 is also provided to'bea'r upon the edge of the rotary piston and is mounted in a suitable recess formed to re.

ceive. it in the adjacent portion of the member 23. This strip may also be held into contact with the piston by means of'y a suitable spring, as 30, or the force of a small quantity 'ner end of the steam-pipe42.

of steam which may be admitted to the space behindl it.

. The heads 21 and 22 have extensions 3l and 32 thereon, vwhich form bearings for the main .shaft 33 ofthe engine.l Said shaft carries ber also embodies the steam-chest, as will be y presently described,)'and said shaft revolves at the same speed as the main shaft. This combined governor and'valve-shaft is hollow, and its open inner end registers with the in- One side contains a V-shaped valve-opening which extends across the stearneinlet to the steam-chest. Two wedge-shaped Valve ymembers 43 and 44 are arranged within this Vrshaped opening and are thus adapted as theyl are moved longitudinally thereof to approach or recede from each other, and thus diminish or increase the available orifice through i which the steam passes to 1 the steam-chest, -a portion of which oriiice is bounded by these valve members and the rel mainder of which is the port 45, leading downwarolly therefrom to the steam-chest. By means of these wedge-shaped valve portions I not only govern the amount of steam admitted to the steam-chest, but admit it to the engines at full boiler-pressure,directly and cut it off quickly and at any desiredzpoint, and thus get the full benefit of expansion. Said wedgeshaped valve portionsfare connected, by means of links 47 and 48, to a longitudinally-movable rod 49, which passes througha -stuiiing-'box 5() and at a point beyond said stuffing-box is provided with a cross-bar` 5l, which engages .'witha collar 52, "slidably, but not revolubly,

mounted on .theshaft 41,. it beingprevented j from revolving vsaid vshaft bythe spline 53. `This collar has `an Yannular groove 54 ,innits outer'face, andthe inner arms of vbell-.crank levers 55 and 5 6 (forming part of thegovernormechanism) venter said groove, and thus engage with said collar. 'These bell-crank le-I vers 55 and 56 are mounted, by means of pivots 57 and 58, on arms of a spider 59, rigidly mounted upon the shaft 41. Said bell-crank levers carry the governor-balls 61 and 62 upon their free arms, and these balls are held toward each other by spring 63. In operation as the speed increases the balls will fly apart and draw the collar 51, and with it the rod 49,

, toward the end of the shaft 41, carrying the wheel or pulley 37, and thus (through the links 47 and 48) move the wedge-shaped valve parts 43 and 44 toward the narrow end of the V-shaped slit in said shaft 41, thus reducing' the size of the orifice. As the speed decreases the springs 63 operate to draw the governorballs 61 and 62 toward each other, moving the rod 49 in the opposite direction and causing the wedge-shaped valve parts 43 and 44 to move backwardly. A spring 65 is placed within the hollow shaft 41 withits ends extending over the wedge-shaped valve parts 43 and 44 and is thus adapted to hold said wedgeshaped valve parts in position and cause them to separate as they are moved backward toward the wider end of the V-shaped slit in the side of the hollow shaft, and thus open the orifice through which the steam flows to the steam-chest.

The stuffing-box 50 is of peculiar formation. I/Vithin the hollow shaft 41 at an appropriate point a shoulder is formed against which the washer-like plate forming one end of this stufHng-box rests. The compressible material forming the center of the stuffingboX is then placed against this plate, and a second plate is then slipped over the rod 49, forming the other head of the stuffing-box. The pressure of the steam within this hollow shaft against this second plate is sufiicient to keep the stung-box tight.

The steam-chest is cylindrical in form, and its outer wall is a part of the member 23 of the shell of the engine. Within the cylindrical opening is a tubular structure 71, through which are formed suitable ports for the transmission of steam from the valve to the enginecylinder. I prefer to make my improved engine so that it can be caused to run in either direction, and in doing this I provide three such ports in the tubular structure 71. rIwo of these, 72 and 73, are in the form of annular grooves cut into the wall of said tubular structure and extending completely around it, while the third is in the form of a transverse slit cut through the wall of said structure and affording an opening from the outside thereof into its hollow center. As best shown in Fig. 5, these ports are situated equidistant from each other. The annular ports are the live-steam ports, and the other, which is situated midway between the two, is the exhaust-port. Within the part 23 are two other ports, 75 and 76, which are arranged to form a continuation of two of the three ports of the tubular valve 71. In the arrangement shown the live steam is shown as entering through the ports 72 and 73, and the exhaust-steam is shown as escaping through the ports 76 and 74 and thence out the exhaust-steam pipe 60. 'Ihe tubular valve 71 may, however, be shifted in position, as by means of the lever 77 and its rod 7 3, so that the exhaust-port 74 will be brought into registry with the port 76. W'hen this is done, the direction of rotation ol the engine is reversed, as the steam then enters the cylinder through the ports 73 and 76, and the exhauststeam escapes through the ports 75 and 74.

The piston of this engine consists of a plain circular disk 81, which is mounted on shaft 33, and a radially-movable wing 82, mounted in a corresponding slit extending in from the periphery Ofsaid disk toward the cellier. Said wing is held outwardly against the inner surface of the rim of the engine-cylinder by centrifugal force during the time the engine is in operation, and this maybe aided or caused to act more quickly either by a s1 ringi seated in asuitable perforation formed lor the purpose underneath said wing or by steampressureadmitted behind said wing through a small orifice leading into the space containing it. The space between the piston and the cylinder-walls constitutes an anu ular chamber, except that at the upper portion (near where the steam enters) the circular form o f the outer wall is suiiicientl y departed from to brin said wall and the periphery of the piston-disk into close relation, so that the packing-piece 2S), mounted in the wall at this point, shall bear closely against the periphery of the disk.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. rIhe combination, in a rotary engine, ol' a cylinder having one side flattened with steamports formed in the wall one on .ach side of the middle of the {iattened portion, a packingstrip mounted in said wall between said 1` orts, other packing-strips mounted radially in the cylinder-walls to bear against the sides of the disk forming the piston, said piston composed of a disk and a radially-disposed wing movable toward and from its axis, a tubular valve situated in the steam-chest and containing two live-steam ports and one exhaust-port positioned equidistant from each other whereby by shifting the position of said valve the direction of rotation of the engine may be reversed, and a suitable valve for the admission of steam to the steam-chest, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a rotary engine, ol' the three members 21 22 and 23 forming the cylinder, said member 21 forming one cud and the greater portion ofthe sides, the member 22 forming the other end, and the member 23 forming the remainder of the cylinder side and embodying the steam-chest, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in a rotary engine, ol'

. a Cylinder having one Side attened with Steamports formed in the wall one on each Side of.

the middle of the flattened portion, a packing- Strip mounted in said wall between Said ports,

other packing-Strips mounted radially in the Cylinder-walls to bear against the sides of the piston, and a suitable piston.

4. The combination, in a rotary engine, of a cylinder having one side flattened with Steamports formed in the wall one on each side of the middle of the flattened portion, a packingstrip mounted in said wall between said ports, 

